Addressing Accreditation

Harold Gutmann

02/26/2015

The most serious decision North Carolina faces in the aftermath of the Wainstein Report isn’t coming from the NCAA. It’s coming from the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which has the power to pull UNC’s accreditation -- but won't.

Colleges that lose accreditation aren’t eligible for state or federal
aid, which adds up to hundreds of millions of dollars for a university
of UNC’s size and could force the school to close. However, the
severity of the penalty and SACSCOC’s mission are big reasons why it’s
almost impossible that Carolina would receive the ultimate punishment.

“The goal is the improvement of the institutions,” said Dr. Pamela
Cravey, the Coordinator of Communications and External Affairs at
SACSCOC. “We like to ensure that they are compliant, not to try to
kick them out.”

It is extremely rare for any college to lose its accreditation, and
would be unprecedented for a research university of UNC’s size and
stature. The only school to lose its accreditation from SACSCOC last
year was Mid-Continent University in Kentucky, which had filed for
bankruptcy and was no longer offering classes. Brewton-Parker College
in Georgia was stripped of its accreditation in June, but appealed and
regained its status in December.

It’s also important to note the differences between the NCAA – which
has 500 employees, more than $500 million in unrestricted assets and
the ability to conduct exhaustive investigations – and SACSCOC, which
has 50 employees and largely relies on information provided by the
schools, which is then reviewed by peer evaluators from similar
institutions (the organization does not disclose its budget).

The SACSCOC Board of Trustees, which will rule on UNC’s case, also
meets just twice a year. The next meeting is June 9-11, which helps
explains why UNC and the NCAA are not waiting on SACSCOC before proceeding with the investigation.

SACSCOC can issue a warning or put schools on probation, which will
give the institutions up to two years to improve before their
accreditation is pulled. But unlike the NCAA, which has a range of
possible punishments at its disposal, SACSCOC really only has the
“death penalty” option.

There is at least one college president who has recommended that
option – Brian C. Rosenberg of Macalester College in Minnesota wrote
in the Chronicle of Higher Education that SACSCOC should suspend UNC’s
accredited status. Of course, Minnesota is not one of the 11 southern
states represented in SACSCOC, and no one within SACSCOC’s territory
has echoed Rosenberg’s sentiments publicly.

That’s not to say that UNC hasn’t taken SACSCOC’s concerns seriously.
Following the release of the Wainstein Report, SACSCOC raised
questions about UNC’s compliance with 18 of the roughly 70 standards
of accreditation, and said that the “investigative report clearly
refutes the institution’s claims (in 2013) that the academic fraud was
relegated to the unethical actions of two people,” AFAM chairman
Julius Nyang’oro and AFAM secretary Deborah Crowder.

The university spent two months crafting a response under the
direction of Lynn Williford, Assistant Provost for Institutional
Research and Assessment.

“Carolina accepts full responsibility for the wrongdoing, has
apologized repeatedly and forthrightly to the impacted students and
alumni, and will continue to monitor previous reforms and institute
additional measures, wherever needed, to ensure and enhance academic
integrity,” UNC wrote.

The response said that UNC has kept SACSCOC informed throughout the
process and outlined the reforms the school has made that “will
prevent the irregularities from ever recurring in Chapel Hill.”

Since the paper-class system at the heart of the Wainstein Report
ended in 2011, UNC has changed over most of its leadership positions,
hiring a new chancellor, provost, chief financial officer, athletic
director, football coach and faculty athletics representative to the
NCAA. There will soon be a new general counsel and a new dean of arts
and sciences.

There may still be fallout from the Wainstein Report, especially if
the NCAA decides to weigh in. But the loss of accreditation will not
be in the university’s future.